Day 34- Selfie Freewrite Celebration Contest

This is my entry for the Day 34- Selfie Freewrite Celebration Contest - Prize 109.286 SBD, hosted @freewritehouse.

You can also find this weekend’s freewrite by visiting Weekend Freewrite- 6/16/2018 - Part 1 - The First Sentence, hosted by @mariannewest.

Like A Hawk

Richard loved to surprise her, she was learning to grow suspicious when he didn’t answer her questions. He thought he was smart by changing the subject, but Mindy could see he was up to something. Her birthday was the next month and she couldn’t think of any other reason he would be planning a surprise.

Mindy watched him like a hawk wondering how big of a surprise Richard was planning, where it would take place, and when it would happen. He proposed to her in a hot air balloon when they were away on a vacation and she didn’t see it coming. Ever since then she’s been waiting for the surprises and most times she could predict them; if not solve the puzzle beforehand.

But this time Richard was very quiet about the details. He gave no hints, and the smiles he gave told her it was something she would never expect. She only hoped it was a good surprise and not something like adult tree house in the back yard no one ever dared to visit after the raccoons took over. Richard was gifted at keeping secrets, one thing she loved, and disliked about him.

She would watch his every move so that if he even left a fingerprint behind she would be able to find a clue to his plans.

She started taking up a lot of bad habits. She began listening to his phone calls, sneaking up behind him while he was working in his office, and checking his emails like suspicious women do when their man is stepping out on them. But Mindy wasn’t searching for another woman. She just wanted to know what the big surprise would be.

Richard must have finalized his plans because he no longer smiled as much as he did the last week. She could tell he was keeping a secret, but he acted as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. The next three days she was on pins and needles watching everyone who walked into her nail salon to see if they had a bouquet of flowers in their hands or a singing telegram.

The closer it got to her birthday the more nervous she became. There was no telling what he was doing, and even the bank statements and credit card records showed no unusual activity. She wondered now if she was imagining things. Maybe he wasn’t planning anything. Maybe he was just happy and smiling…

No, she thought, that smile meant something, and she would still find out what that something was before he had a chance to surprise her.

A week before her birthday Mindy figured out Richard’s big surprise when she innocently came upon an old letter from Amsterdam. She read the letter that explained his parents were expected for a reunion in less than a week for an annual family gathering.

Mindy wasn’t sure what to think since she had never heard Richard say anything about Amsterdam before, or that he had family in that country. She suddenly realized she didn’t know much about Richard at all. Their romance was somewhat of a whirlwind. They had not been dating for more than a few months when he proposed.

Now she wondered if he was wanting to take her to Amsterdam to meet his entire family. Mindy became sick to her stomach. She’d met his parents, but this was a little much. Suddenly she felt maybe this relationship was going a little too fast. She couldn’t wait any longer she had to ask what the big surprise was.

Richard smiled again and avoided the question.

Mindy was at the edge of her seat. “What are you planning please tell me."

“I wanted you to go to Amsterdam, so we could smoke hash for your birthday.”

“Not to present me to your entire family?”

“Well that too, but mostly the hash. Happy Birthday!”

Ding!